Published In

Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing

Document Type

Post-Print

Publication Date

1-1997

Subjects

Electronic data processing -- Distributed processing, Microcomputer workstations, Parallel programming (Computer science), Application software -- Development

Abstract

Shared, multi-user, workstation networks are characterized by unpredictable variability in system load. Further, the concept of workstation ownership is typically present. For efficient and unobtrusive computing in such environments, applications must not only overlap their computation with communication but also redistribute their computations adaptively based on changes in workstation availability and load. Managing these issues at application level leads to programs that are difficult to write and debug. In this paper, we present a system that manages this dynamic multi-processor environment while exporting a simple message-based programming model of a dedicated, distributed memory multiprocessor to applications. Programmers are thus insulated from the many complexities of the dynamic environment at the same time are able to achieve the benefits of multi-threading, adaptive load distribution and unobtrusive computing. To support the dedicated multi-processor model efficiently, the system defines a new kind of virtual processor called User-Level Process (ULP) that can be used to implement efficient multi-threading and application-transparent migration. The viability of ULPs is demonstrated through UPVM, a prototype implementation of the PVM message passing interface using ULPs. Typically, existing PVM programs written in Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) style need only be re-compiled to use this package. The design of the package is presented and the performance analyzed with respect to both micro-benchmarks and some complete PVM applications. Finally, we discuss aspects of the ULP package that affect its portability and its support for heterogeneity, application transparency, and application debugging.

Description

“NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, Vol. 40, Issue 1, January 1997. DOI# 10.1006/jpdc.1996.1270. Definitive version may be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743731596912708

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/10539

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